LAWSON-MUHAMMAD AND DAVIS CAMPAIGN LETTER



*From:* XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
*Date:* July 20, 2016 at 7:56:47 AM EDT
*To:* XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
*Subject:* *FYI*

From:  James H. Davis III and Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad

Brothers of Greater Essex Jack & Jill,

As some of you may have heard, Stephanie and I are running on the same
ticket for the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education election in
November 2016.  While Stephanie is running as an incumbent, this is my
first election.  There are several reasons why I decided to run, but one
reason can be encapsulated in a statement made by our own Michael Minor,
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”

Our school district has long offered the vision of a place where all
students are fully challenged and effectively prepared to realize their
full potential. Indeed, the Board of Education has made closing the
Achievement Gap a top priority every year for the last two decades.

 But we have to admit that -- while some progress has been made -- it is
 way too little and too slow. Especially for children of color.  Stephanie
 and I believe that we can all agree that the pace of change needs to
 increase.

With the commitment of our new Superintendent, Dr. John Ramos, and
leveraging the School Board's recently-adopted "Access and Equity" policy,
we believe the opportunity exists to accelerate the effort to turn vision
into reality.

However, making it happen depends upon electing School Board members that
are committed to the vision and policies proposed by Dr. Ramos while also
providing thoughtful oversight and leadership to help operationalize the
vision.

We are not in this, however, purely to improve outcomes for students of
color, important as that may be. We firmly believe that making any progress
on that goal depends upon forging a stronger school district that is
capable of serving all students well and that is responsive to the needs of
every individual child.

In the weeks ahead, as part of our campaign, Stephanie and I intend to
share more of our outlook and thoughts on specific issues and challenges.

But make no mistake.  There are other candidates running for the same open
School Board seats who do not share our vision or the interests of our children.  Running an effective and dynamic campaign takes money and we are
determined to get our message out, and our ground game established, sooner rather than later.  So we are asking that you please donate to our campaign
as soon as possible.  Please dig deep to help us get off on the right foot. We are asking for contributions of $300 per person or whatever you can afford.
  
Make checks (no cash please!) payable to:

"Davis and Lawson-Muhammad for School Board"
and deliver/mail to:

73 Crest Drive, South Orange, NJ 07079 (Stephanie's house

Please Note: NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission ("NJELEC")  rules
require that all donors provide the name and address of their employers to
campaign committees. Please email us that information or we will collect it
from you subsequently.

Thanks in advance for your support!

James and Stephanie

PS:  Note on contributions:

Contribution limits and reporting requirements for state and local
election campaigns in New Jersey are governed by the NJ Election Law
Enforcement Commission. For those interested, here are the guidelines:

Contributions greater than $300 from any one person are subject to
individual reporting on the NJ ELEC website.
Couples can give up to $600 before the individual reporting requirement is
triggered, subject to certain restrictions.

Campaigns are required to keep records of all donors, however small their
contributions, and be ready, upon demand, to produce those records for
review and publication on the ELEC website.

In case any of you are feeling generous, the maximum contribution to a
single candidate by one individual in a single election cycle is $2600. The
limit for contributing to a campaign of two people (like us) is therefore
$5200.

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